FLINT, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--High school robotics teams from Grand Blanc, Ortonville and Sterling
Heights took home top awards from the 13th annual Kettering Kickoff
FIRST Robotics competition at Kettering University in Flint on Saturday,
Sept. 22.

A three-team alliance of the Enginerds, Team 2337 of Grand Blanc; Truck
Town Thunder, Team 68 from Ortonville; and Foley Freeze, Team 910 of
Sterling Heights, were awarded the #1 Top Dog honors after the day-long
FIRST Robotics competition. See a photo at: http://www.kettering.edu/news/first-first-0

About 800 visitors attended this year’s FIRST Robotics pre-season
contest that attracted 42 Michigan high school robotics teams. This
year’s contest, called Rebound Rumble, featured an action-packed game of
basketball played by hand-built robots. Rebound Rumble included four
basketball hoops and a series of bridges that the robots have to
traverse.

Other top awards at the Kettering Kickoff went to:The Robot
Design Excellence Award – Team 51, Wings of Fire from Pontiac

The Safety Award - Team 4044, Screamin' Eagles of Capac

The #1 Seed Award - Team 51, Wings of Fire from Pontiac

Top Score of the Day - went to an alliance of Team 2619, the Charge of
Midland, Team 3322, Egal Imperium of Ann Arbor, and Team 70, More
Martians of Goodrich

The Spirit of FIRST Award – Team 3770, BlitzCreek of Midland

Mentors Match Award - Team 68, Truck Town Thunder of Ortonville, Team
1243, the Dragons of Swartz Creek, and Team 2604, Metal and Soul, Capac

Community Service Award – STAT EMS of Flint for devoted service to the
Kettering Kickoff

FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is a
national effort to inspire youth to explore career possibilities in
engineering, science and technology. FIRST robotics pits teams in a
head-to-head competition between large radio-controlled robots built by
teams of high school students and sponsoring engineers and teachers.

Kettering University is a nationally-ranked Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Business university in Flint,
Mich., and a national leader in combining a rigorous academic
environment with rich opportunities for experiential learning and
cooperative education. For more information, visit www.kettering.edu.